Singhas v. New Mexico State Highway Dept.

• Decision Date: 13 July 1995
• Docket Number: No. 15860,15860
• Citation: 1995 NMCA 89,902 P.2d 1077,120 N.M. 474
• Parties: Sara SINGHAS, Plaintiff-Appellee, and Dan Soriano, Individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Veronica Soriano, deceased, Plaintiff-in-Intervention-Appellee, v. NEW MEXICO STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

Page 1077

902 P.2d 1077

120 N.M. 474

Sara SINGHAS, Plaintiff-Appellee and Dan Soriano, Individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Veronica Soriano, deceased Plaintiff-in-Intervention-Appellee, v. NEW MEXICO STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 15860.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

July 13, 1995.

Certoriari Granted Sept. 11, 1995.

[120 N.M. 475] Stephen Durkovich, Kevin Martinez, Albuquerque, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Edward L. Chavez, David J. Stout, Carpenter & Chavez, Ltd., Albuquerque, for Plaintiff-in-Intervention-Appellee.

Katherine E. Tourek, Lisa T. Mack, Bradley & McCulloch, P.A., Albuquerque, for Defendant-Appellant.

OPINION

FLORES, Judge.

The New Mexico State Highway Department (the Highway Department) appeals from a tort judgment finding the Highway Department ten percent at fault for a highway automobile accident involving two employees of the New Mexico Public Defender's Department (the Public Defender), who were traveling within the scope of their employment. The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the exclusive-remedy provisions, NMSA 1978, § 52-1-6(C)-(E) (Repl.Pamp.1991) (effective Jan. 1, 1992) and NMSA 1978, § 52-1-9 (Repl.Pamp.1991), of the Workers' Compensation Act, NMSA 1978, §§ 52-1-1 to -70 (Repl.Pamp.1991 & Cum.Supp.1994) (the Act), prohibit recovery against the Highway Department in tort. We hold that the exclusive-remedy provisions apply to prohibit recovery, and we reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts are not in dispute. Plaintiff Sara Singhas (Singhas) and Veronica Soriano, both employees of the Public Defender, and Veronica's daughter, Michele, were en route to a mental health task force meeting in Las Cruces on July 8, 1992, when Veronica's vehicle struck another vehicle driven by Gilbert Leyba (Leyba). Veronica (the decedent) was killed and her two passengers were injured in the accident.

Singhas filed a negligence action against Leyba and the Highway Department, alleging that the Highway Department's failure to properly stripe and sign the highway was a proximate cause of her injury. Subsequently, Dan Soriano (Soriano) intervened as personal representative of the decedent's estate and as next friend of his minor daughter, Michele. Soriano also sought damages individually for his loss of consortium.

The Highway Department moved for summary judgment on the basis that the Act's exclusive-remedy provisions, §§ 52-1-6(C)-(E) and 52-1-9, barred the tort claims. The trial court denied the motion, but certified the issue for interlocutory appeal. The interlocutory appeal was subsequently denied by this Court.

The Highway Department stipulated to judgment in favor of Singhas and Soriano, reserving the right to appeal the validity of the judgment. An amended stipulated judgment simply added an explicit reservation of this right. The stipulated judgment held the Highway Department liable for ten percent of the damages recovered: $127,500 (decedent's estate); $45,500 (Singhas); and $7,000 (Soriano). Michele's claims and all claims against Leyba were settled, and neither is a party to this appeal.

The Highway Department raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the Act's exclusive-remedy provisions apply because the employer was the State of New Mexico rather than the Public Defender; (2) whether the "dual persona" doctrine operates as an exception to the exclusivity rule in this case; and (3) whether the exclusivity rule precludes Soriano's individual claim for damages.

DISCUSSION

Issue One: The State of New Mexico is the Employer

According to the amended stipulated judgment, the Public Defender and the Highway Department are agencies of the State. The judgment, however, does not determine whether the Public Defender or the State of New Mexico is the employer for purposes of the Act.

It is undisputed that Singhas was injured, and the decedent was killed, during the course of their employment with the Public Defender. It is also undisputed that the State has paid benefits pursuant to the Act for the injury and death. The issue is how far up the chain of command one goes to determine who is the employer. This feature distinguishes the instant case from the authority cited by the parties. See Triple B Corp. v. Brown & Root, Inc., 106 N.M. 99, 102-03, 739 P.2d 968, 971-72 (1987) (whether Triple B was employee or independent contractor); Dibble v. Garcia, 98 N.M. 21, 23-25, 644 P.2d 535, 537-39 (Ct.App.) (whether Dibble was employee or independent contractor), cert. denied, 98 N.M. 50, 644 P.2d 1039 (1982).

The parties set forth the statutory organization of each agency as evidence of control to establish whether the employer is the State or its individual agencies. See Triple B Corp., 106 N.M. at 102, 739 P.2d at 971 (employer has right to exercise control over results and details of work to be accomplished); Dibble, 98 N.M. at 23, 644 P.2d at 537 (Act describes through terms " 'employer and employee' " the conventional relationship between an employer who pays wages to an employee for labor); SCRA 1986, 13-403 (Repl.1991) ("[E]mployer is one who has another perform certain work and who has the right to control the manner in which the details of the work are to be done, even though the right of control may not be exercised.").

The Highway Department argues that the employing agencies within the State personnel system exercise authority delegated to them by the State as employer. Singhas attempts to distinguish the organization of the Highway Department from the Public Defender to demonstrate that the agencies are separate and independent, and that only the Public Defender meets all indicia of an employer with authority to hire, fire, supervise, and promote. We are not persuaded by these indicia of independent control when employees of the two agencies have access to another state entity to grieve personnel actions, see NMSA 1978, §§ 10-9-1 to -25 (Repl.Pamp.1992) (Personnel Act); are paid by the State from state funds, see NMSA 1978, §§ 9-6-1 to -3, -5 (Repl.Pamp.1994) (Department of Finance and Administration); NMSA 1978, § 10-7-2 (Repl.Pamp.1992) (department to issue regulations governing payment of salaries); and are employed by agencies of the executive department, headed by gubernatorial appointees, see NMSA 1978, § 31-15-4 (Cum.Supp.1994) (chief public defender) and NMSA 1978, § 67-3-2 (Cum.Supp.1994) (highway commission). See also Colombo v. State, 3 Cal.App.4th 594, 5 Cal.Rptr.2d 567, 569-70 (1991) (factors court found persuasive in concluding that civil service employees of different state departments were state employees as a matter of law for purposes of the exclusive-remedy provision of the workers' compensation statute), review denied (Feb. 13, 1992).

The Act is a product of legislative balancing of the employer's assumption of liability without fault with the worker's receipt of benefits. Johnson Controls World Servs., Inc. v. Barnes, 115 N.M. 116, 118, 847 P.2d 761, 763 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 115 N.M. 79, 847 P.2d 313 (1993). That balance could be significantly altered by a determination that the individual agency, rather than the state, is the employer. Therefore, we seek specific guidance from the Act itself to indicate whether such a conclusion is intended or warranted. See Williams v. Amax Chem. Corp., 104 N.M. 293, 294, 720 P.2d 1234, 1235 (1986) (sagacity of making changes in workers' compensation statutes, or rights created thereunder, generally held to be beyond the province of the court), overruled on other grounds by Michaels v. Anglo Am. Auto Auctions, Inc., 117 N.M. 91, 92, 869 P.2d 279, 280 (1994).

According to the provisions of the Act relating to workers' compensation coverage by state agencies, all state agencies and departments are synonymous with the State of New Mexico. Section 52-1-3. The legislature has not attempted to distinguish the various state agencies and departments from the State itself, a feature that we find significant. See Holody v. City of Detroit, 117 Mich.App. 76, 323 N.W.2d 599, 602 (1982) (separate agencies of city not separate employers); see also Osborne v. Commonwealth, 353 S.W.2d 373, 374-75 (Ky.1962) (commonwealth was one employer as matter of law when statute made no attempt to distinguish ministerial agencies from commonwealth itself); Wright v. Moore, 380 So.2d 172, 173 n. 1 (La.Ct.App.1979) (regardless of which agency employs worker, worker is state employee when legislature has not subdivided state employment according to agency or department), cert. denied, 382 So.2d 164 (La.1980).

For the above reasons, in this case, we conclude as a matter of law that the State is the employer. Cf. Jelso v. World Balloon Corp., 97 N.M. 164, 167, 637 P.2d 846, 849 (Ct.App.1981) (where facts undisputed, question of whether claimant was a worker at the time of her injury or only a volunteer is question of law). Consequently, the exclusivity rule applies to the tort claims asserted in this case, unless some exception to the rule applies. See §§ 52-1-6(C)-(E), -9 (exclusive-remedy provisions).

Issue Two: The "Dual Persona" Doctrine Does Not Apply

When an employer occupies a "dual persona" status, the exclusivity rule does not prohibit recovery against the employer as a third-party tortfeasor. See Salswedel v. Enerpharm, Ltd., 107 N.M. 728, 731, 764 P.2d 499, 502 (Ct.App.1988) (recognizing "dual persona" doctrine). Many of the arguments advanced by the parties in support of the employer-identity issue are relevant to our analysis of whether the "dual persona" doctrine is applicable in this case. As the Highway Department notes, the primary issue is whether the State can be both employer and third-party tortfeasor when the tort was committed by a department other than the employing agency.

We determine whether the trial court correctly applied the "dual persona" doctrine to the facts. See Ledbetter v. Webb, 103 N.M. 597, 602-03, 711 P.2d 874, 879-80 (1985)...